Indian mountaineers Bhawna Deharia and Ankita Gupta unfurled the National Flag atop Europe's highest mountain peak, Mount Elbrus, on Monday to mark India's 76th Independence Day.
Eight mountaineers from different states were part of the expedition.
The group scaled not one, but two mountain summits within 24 hours. The group successfully scaled the 5642-meter-tall Mount Elbrus West at 5:30 am on August 15 and Mount Elbrus East at 4:23 am on Tuesday. Mount Elbrus East is just 12 meters smaller than Mount Elbrus West.
In the first week of August, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel presented the National Flag to Ankita Gupta, a constable in Chhattisgarh police's anti-Naxal cell, and wished her the best for her mountaineering expedition.
Ankita Gupta had said that she would unfurl the national flag on Mount Elbrus to commemorate the 75th anniversary of India's Independence on behalf of the people of Chhattisgarh.
30-year-old Bhawna Dehariya From Madhya Pradesh, mother of a 15-month-old daughter, has scaled four other peaks in other countries. These include the world's highest mountain peak, Mount Everest, on May 22, 2019; Africa's tallest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro, on the festival of Diwali in 2019; South America's tallest peak, Aconcagua, in December 2019; and Australia's highest peak, Mount Kosciuszko, on the festival of Holi in 2020. She is on a "Seven Summits Quest" to climb the highest peaks of all seven continents and unfurl the national flag atop each peak.
With this conquest under their belt, the team is perhaps the first group of Indian mountaineers to have successfully scaled two mountain summits of Europe within 24 hours.
Indians in Singapore Win Young Entrepreneurs Award Ankita Lokhande out of Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 4 AR Rahman, Wife Saira Announce Separation After 29 Years Of Marriage Strangled, Left In Car Trunk: How Harshita Brella Was Killed By Husband Amid Souring Ties With India, Canada's Latest Move Inconveniences Fliers Taliban Removes 'Un-Islamic' Books, Anti-Government Literature After Season's Coldest Night, Delhi Wakes Up To Another Day With Toxic Air Rare Pre-Revolutionary Silver Coin Shatters Records, Fetches $2.52 Million Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.